For films premiering at the SXSW Film Festival, a debut at Austin’s enormous Paramount Theatre is the dream—especially in front of a raucous crowd laughing so loud that some jokes get drowned out. And that’s exactly what happened for Kay Cannon’sBlockers, the directorial debut from the Pitch Perfect screenwriter, which turns a familiar sex-comedy premise—three girls vow to lose their virginity on prom night—into something surprisingly fresh and modern. As Joanna Robinsonwrote in her review from the festival, “it’s mind-boggling that Cannon was able to make a film about teen sex, and the very real pressures facing women in the #MeToo era, without ever getting preachy or stripping these young women of their agency.”

On this week’s Little Gold Men podcast, Joanna catches up Katey Rich and Richard Lawson on all the highlights of the festival, from well-received Texas premieres for Sundance holdovers like Blindspotting and American Animals to the surprise screening of Steven Spielberg’sReady Player One, which included an even-more-surprising speaker malfunction. The group also discusses the new release Love, Simon, the first mainstream studio comedy about a gay teenager that’s being heralded as groundbreaking, even if it might leave some viewers wanting more.

Listen to this week‘s episode above, and find Little Gold Men on Apple Podcasts, where you can leave a review and a rating to help us find new listeners.